Solid Promises

There is a verse that comes to mind frequently and it happened to be in my Bible reading this week: “The Lord will fulfill His purpose for me; Your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the work of Your hands” (Psalm 138:8 ESV and a similar verse in Psalm 57:2). This is both comforting and challenging at the same time. It’s comforting because:

• God will fulfill His purpose. It all depends on God, not me.
• His purpose is directly tied to His steadfast love, which never changes.
• It is His work and He will complete it. He will provide and enable all that is necessary for His purpose to be fulfilled.

But it’s challenging because God’s purpose is not always the same as my purpose. I don’t always know or trust what His purposes are. If my purpose doesn’t line up with His, I will keep being frustrated when it gets blocked or derailed. And when I don’t understand His purpose, it’s hard to make sense of the difficulties that come along.

One of the challenges I have is that I’m very much a black and white thinker. And while that serves me well as an accountant, it doesn’t work out so well in the rest of my world. Most situations have numerous shades of grey that depend on what other people are thinking, how they perceive a situation, and how things are communicated (among other things). So when any of those things don’t line up with my way of thinking, I get confused, frustrated, angry, and hurt, and it takes a long time to work it out and get over it. Many different decisions may be good options without being clearly the best.

I’m thankful that much of Scripture is black and white. (The only grey areas I can think of are directly related to modern interpretations of the original writers’ intentions.) The Old Testament Law says “Do this; don’t do that.” The New Testament says, “This road leads to life and blessing; that road leads to death.” And throughout Scripture are God’s ironclad promises: “I will never leave you or forsake you; I will fulfill My purposes; The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; In returning and rest you shall be saved, in quietness and trust shall be your strength; I will come again and take you to Myself, that where I am there you may be also.”

While there is much in life that is disappointing, depressing, and discouraging, God’s plans, purposes, and promises can be counted on. Some things never change.

“This is my comfort in my affliction, that Your promise gives me life” (Psalm 119:50).

Fear Not

I’ve read some things recently that talked about fear as a sin, and I’ve been wrestling with that thought. It seems to me that most of the scriptural admonitions to “fear not” are more a word of encouragement than a commandment. Some fears are good. We are told to fear God in honor and reverence. Fear of imminent danger moves us to take necessary action. Certainly there are some fears that are sinful. Fear of people and protecting our reputation is pride. Obsessive worry about the future reveals a lack of faith in God. It’s misleading to talk about the “sin of fear” without defining exactly what is meant, and the authors who have done so have created some unnecessary fear in people wondering if they’ve been unintentionally sinning.

Even though Jesus instructed us in Matthew 6 not to be anxious because God provides, when He spoke directly to Martha about her anxious preparations in Luke 10:41 there is no indication that He spoke harshly or that she needed to repent of sin. He certainly could have used stronger language of rebuke if He thought it necessary. In my imagination He uses a very loving and perhaps even playful tone. “Martha, forget the hors d’oeuvres and come join the party!”

For me the question of whether fear is sin or not comes down to how it motivates me to act. If it gives me a goal to work toward and the impetus to change, it’s probably a good thing. If it leads me to pray and seek God’s will more, that’s good too. But if it paralyzes me and keeps me from loving God and loving others wholeheartedly, I’ve got a problem. And if I’m obsessed with anxiety about things I have no control over, I can’t focus on doing all that God has called me to do. Then I really need to repent and cast my cares upon God and learn to trust Him with the results.

One book I read recently, which I won’t even name, commented that when we pray about something we should only pray it once and then trust God, because repeatedly asking the same thing will reveal a lack of faith. (The author later contradicted himself.) God knows our level of faith better than we do. He also knows our thoughts and desires better than we do. So if something is concerning us, we might as well talk to Him about it! We don’t have to nag Him to answer our prayers, but we need not feel ashamed to bring up a matter more than once. Can you imagine a marriage in which the spouses only talked about new issues and never repeated themselves?

The book of Isaiah contains a large number of “fear not” verses, and many are worth memorizing. Here are just a few:

• “Say to those who have an anxious heart, ‘Be strong, fear not! Behold, your God will come with vengeance, with the recompense of God. He will come and save you” (Isaiah 35:4 ESV).
• “Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand” (41:10).
• “For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, ‘Fear not, I am the one who helps you” (41:13).
• “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you” (43:1b-2).
• “Fear not, nor be afraid; have I not told you from of old and declared it? And you are my witnesses! Is there a God besides Me? There is no Rock; I know not any” (44:8).
• “Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is His name; and the Holy One of Israel if your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth He is called” (54:4-5).

So if fear and anxiety are a problem for you, look to the Scriptures and find encouragement there, since “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus” (Romans 8:1). The admonition to “fear not” is not intended to bring condemnation or shame, but is a reminder of the God who is in control and who loves us more than we can imagine!

“So we can confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?’” –Hebrews 13:6